With the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020, 11-year-old Zachary Adonis from Rugby decided to do something for the less fortunate with an Easter egg drive.
Although it was lockdown and financially it hit everyone he managed to collect quite a few eggs.
These were donated to Nazareth House for Aids babies.
In 2021 he collected over 14 boxes and donated it to an NPO in Phoenix and Huis Zonnekus in Milnerton.
This year he decided to combine it with a stationery drive and it was handed over on Easter Monday to the Holy Cross Orphanage in Parow to bring joy to the less fortunate.
“It all started when my parens and I visited a children’s hospital in Cape Town and saw the needs of heartsore parents sitting at the bedside of their sick children. I suggested to my parents to do something and we decided to make soup and sandwiches once a month and hand it to an organisation at the hospital to hand out to the mothers. From there everything escalated and we started collecting magazines, toys, used books and received a voucher from a leading supermarket which we donated to the hospital,” Zachary says.
From a young age he always had compassion for those in need.
“Seeing people scratching in bins for food touched my heart. Five years later when Covid-19 started I was concerned that children would not have the privilege to receive Easter eggs and that is where the idea of an Easter egg drive started. I then approached family and friends for donations, but with the pandemic on hand we only managed to collect a few boxes which was donated to an orphanage.
“2021 was very successful and we managed to collect over 500 marshmallows which we donated to an NPO in Phoenix and to the nurses at Huis Zonnekus in Milnerton to thank them for their services. This year we made goodie-bags of Easter eggs, chips and cookies and donated it to Holy Cross in Parow. I also collected good used school clothes and donated it to an orphanage in Crawford,” he says.
In the near future Zachary intends to have a non-perishable food drive to replenish the food cupboards of the orphanages in Parow and Crawford to help diminish the high food bills per month.
“My parents and I hope to have the same success we achieved with our previous projects and would like to do the handover by mid to end of November. We have received positive feedback with much appreciation and gratitude from all involved, but most of all, the smiles on the children’s faces were feedback enough,” Zachary says.
For more information or donations contact Hilton Adonis on 072 184 1086.
